Michael Boon
- May 1, 2020
- 2 min read

How to DIY Your Own Pre-Wedding in 3 Steps

Hello Photographers,

Planning for a pre-wedding shoot? Why not Do It Yourself?

For this blog post, I will be sharing my personal experience doing our DIY pre-wedding in New Zealand.

There are 3 steps to follow:

1) Planning and Preparation

2) Testing / Rehearsal

3) Shoot and Have Fun

Planning and Preparation

Every pre-wedding shoot should always start with proper planning and preparation. Same holds true for your upcoming wefie. Plan with your spouse on what to wear, location and theme of shoot.

You will also have to prepare for the right equipment.

Camera, sturdy tripod, remote shutter, flash unit and flash trigger (optional).

What's in my camera bag:

Camera - Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 5D Mark II

Lenses - Canon 24-70 f2.8, Canon 17-40 f4, Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS, Sigma 35 f1.4,

(Actually you only need 1 zoom and 1 prime lens and you should be good to go)

Flash - Godox AD200

Accessories - Tripod, Lighting tripod, Remote Trigger, Godox Flash Trigger, Magmod Bounce, Magmod Sphere, Plenty of Batteries, Roller bag from Taobao

Gears aside, you will also need to know your basics. I went for a one day, one-on-one intensive photography course mentored by professional and award winning photographer, Victor Tong. Talking about passion!

Testing / Rehearsal

Testing doesn't only mean making sure your equipment work flawlessly, but also mean that you should be practicing. You must spend some time, look for a location and practice shooting yourself with your spouse. We did alot of awkward poses because we simply did not know how we look like to be photographed. Spent the whole morning at Santubong Beach to understand how self-posing and self-photographing work.

Have fun, and be patient

Now, the day has come! Are you mentally prepared? Anyways, just go and have fun. It's the process that matters.

Remember, DIY will take longer than your usual pre-wedding shoots you do for others. Plan ahead, give yourself extra days. It took us about 3 days to complete our shoot. It was fun, memorable, and special. We planned everything from the trip itinerary, down to what to wear together.

If you're a photographer reading this, I highly recommend you to book a ticket (after all the chaos is cleared), fly to somewhere far away from home, preferably somewhere cool (running around checking your camera screen and reposing could be sweaty if you're doing it in a hot weather), set up a tripod, and shoot your stories. Take your time, be patient, and repeat. You will get some stunning results.